GOLF CONDITIONING
As the spotlight on fitness
intensifies, what type of
conditioning program are you going to adopt?
by Mark J. Smith, Ph.D. &
Rob Mottram, P.T., ATC
As
you flip through the pages of the latest golf magazines, it’s hard to find one
that isn’t addressing fitness in golf. The recognition that a fitter golfer is
a better golfer is now accepted by golf professionals and high handicap golfers
alike. Consequently, the golf industry is becoming a target market for fitness
professionals and golfers are beginning a myriad of conditioning programs.
Since the general population is bombarded with incorrect information on a daily
basis and then acts upon it, it should come as no surprise that the golf
industry will be subject to the same.
Before arguing the case of one golf
conditioning program over another, it is first worth gaining a basic
understanding of the body’s different metabolic pathways towards energy
production for muscular contraction. Once this is accomplished, one can better
evaluate how certain conditioning programs are better suited to the golfer than
others. Although simplistic, we basically have two major metabolic pathways
that produce energy - the aerobic system ("with oxygen") and the
anaerobic system ("without oxygen"). We also see terms such as
endurance training or cardiovascular conditioning associated with the term
aerobic. For the purpose of gaining an understanding of these metabolic
systems, marathon runners have highly trained aerobic systems while sprinters
have highly trained anaerobic systems.
However, a major misconception
is that sports and activities are either aerobic or
anaerobic in nature. This is simply never the case, all activities from
sprinting to running a marathon have relative contributions from both systems.
An even greater misunderstanding is that activities that have a large
contribution from the anaerobic system, such as sprinting, will have little
training effect on the aerobic and cardiovascular system. This is wrong, dead
wrong. If it were true, sprinters would have lousy cardiovascular systems
because the vast majority of their training is spent engaged in high-intensity
intermittent activity, not low to moderate continuous activity. The fact is of
course is that their cardiovascular systems are in great shape. A sprinter
might not log spectacular times running a marathon, but they would have no
problem walking eighteen holes of golf interspersed with a high number (we’ll
leave that number to the reader!) of short duration ballistic movements, a.k.a.
the golf swing.
If one were to create a spectrum of
sporting activities based on the relative contributions of these metabolic
pathways, we might see track and field’s hammer throwing at one end of the
spectrum and running a marathon at the other. The question of course is where
on this spectrum does golf fall? Well it doesn’t take a genius to realize that
golf is at the end of the spectrum close to the hammer thrower, that is to
realize and understand that golf is a high-intensity intermittent activity sport.
Now before anyone starts to argue that golf has a very large endurance
component because rounds can last four hours or more, I’ve seen a game of chess
last longer. The point here is it’s not simply the length of the activity that
determines the type of training needed, but the nature of the activity and how
energy is utilized throughout. Yes golf has an endurance component, but it is
muscular endurance not cardiovascular endurance that is the most likely
performance parameter to fail you.
Engaging in high-intensity intermittent training will provide you more than enough aerobic/cardiovascular conditioning to play a round of golf while training that all important anaerobic system to reproduce the ballistic golf swing throughout the round without fatigue. It is also important to realize that these energy providing systems are in competition with one another when it comes to training. Perhaps more simply understood we are never going to see the gold medals for the 100 meters and the marathon at the Olympic Games go to the same individual. Consequently, if you understand that golf is a high-intensity intermittent activity sport, don’t make low to moderate "aerobic" activities the core of your training program as it will be counter productive. The majority of your time should be spent on activities that fatigue you in a short period of time. If the activity is intense, a minute is a long time! By repeating the activity multiple times, with recoveries of one to three minutes between each repetition, you will train your anaerobic system while also training your cardiovascular system. This type of training is often referred to as interval training and before anyone asks, yes it’s also effective for weight loss. Has anyone seen an overweight sprinter lately?
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Rob Mottram, a registered physical therapist
and certified athletic trainer, worked for 11 years as a rehab and fitness
specialist for the PGA TOUR, Senior PGA TOUR and the LPGA (1987-89). He
traveled with the TOUR players and the original
Recognized as a specialist in designing golf exercise programs for golf,
at the professional and amateur level, Rob is also educated in biomechanical
computer and electromagnetic motion analysis of the golf swing. He is a
certified (Paul) CHEK Golf Biomechanic and a Certified Golf Fitness
Instructor (CGFI) from Advantage Golf, specializing in biomechanical analysis
and performance training for golf.
For More Info, check out the Golf Health and Performance Center website at www.golfpt.com
The articles at GolfFitnessProducts.net
are for informational purposes only and are not intended to substitute
for direct examination and exercise prescription by the appropriate
health professional. It is strongly recommended that you do not
perform any exercise program without the consent of your personal
physician.
